Over the fall and winter we've been concentrating on our multiple business ventures on the web and here at home! We haven't been back to blog for a while but talk about and think about it as we fall asleep. 

Today on the way out to the compost we spotted the daffodils, muscari and even some of Julie's 'Flags" sticking out of the crust of leaves!

We'll be back to graven' and hunting info related to our finds, thus hopefully blogging with more info and developments! 

Think Spring!

Military Monday: Jacob R.Zuck

Jacob R. Zuck  1843-1915

"Jacob R. Zuck was a leading book and stationer of Mt.Pleasant and one who fought under the "Stars and Stripes" in the dark days of the rebellion. Jacob was born in Mt.Pleasant, Westmoreland County, Pa., Christmas 1843 and is a son of Samuel and Susan (Keister) Zuck."

At eighteen years of age he left the schoolroom for the tented field, having enlisted Oct. 5, 1861 in Co. B.28th Regt. Pa. Vol. He served in the army of northern Virginia and was later transfered to the army of the Potomac. Jacob was severely wounded at the battle of Antietam and honorably discharged Jan. 1863 on account of disability.

"On May 1, 1867, he was united in marriage to Emma Smitley and to their union have born two sons: Edwin born March 8, 1871, and Orray, born july 29, 1875."

In 1871 he became a member of the National Guards of Pennsylvania and was elected captain of the Mt.Pleasant rifles or Independent  company, seventeenth division. He was a member of  Robert Worden Post, No. 163, Grand Army of the Republic and was its commander in 1888.

Jacob is buried in Mt.Pleasant Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant, Pa.

Sources: Biographical And Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County Pennsylvania. Printed 1890

Bates, Samuel P. History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65, Harrisburg, 1868-1871

Military Monday: George Washabaugh, a wounded warrior!

George Washabaugh
1839-1908
Co. G.,100th "Roundhead" Regiment, PA. Volunteers.
Mr. Washabaugh is buried in West Newton Cemetery, Westmoreland County, PA.



George W. Washabaugh enlisted August 28, 1861.

"During his service he took part in an engagement of Hilton Head, S.C."
From there "he sailed board the Ocean Queen via Port Royal, Portal  entrance and Legareville, a journey of about three weeks, and from there he sailed to James Island, S.C., a journey of twenty miles, during which time the steamer was under almost continual fire from the enemy."
"At the battle of James Island, S.C., June 16,1862, Mr. Washabaugh was wounded by a portion of a shell which struck his head, and his regiment retreating , he was left lying on the field for dead,
and lay there unconscious for seven hours."
The wound caused left sided partial paralysis and "partial loss of the use of the use of his left arm.."
Being unable to return to service "he was mustered out October 16, 1862."
He was then appointed assistant provost marshal and later postmaster in Jackson Centre, Mercer County, PA. He resigned from that post to run a hotel in Grove City, PA. for 16 years. "While there he built a hotel known as "Washabaugh Hotel" "and later "known as the "Filer House"."
When he left Grove City he moved to Suterville, Pa in 1883 and bought a grist mill , sold later to Taylor and Boggs. "In 1885 he was elected burgess of West Newton, PA" and then elected justice of the peace.
He served as the commander of J.C. Markle Post, No. 57, G.A.R., at West Newton for two years. He, also, taught Sabbath school at his local church.
He was the son of David and Sarah (Huey) Washabaugh.

A very inspirational story. Mr. Washabsaugh  was mustered out in October of 1862. On June 22, 1863 married Marie E. Arnold, daughter Aaron Arnold, a local preacher, and had two children. He continued working and improving his and his families life even with a partially paralyzed left side.
A "Wounded Warrior" from the Civil War.

Don't forget to thank a soldier for their service to our country and it's people.

Information taken from: Biographical And Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County Pennsylvania. Printed 1890

Tombstone Tuesday: George Rinsel

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In memory of 

George Rinsel

Died

March 6, 1845 in 

the 54th year of his life

It took over 165 years for Georges stone to deteriorate but thanks to digital photographs he may be remembered for much longer.

George Rinsel is buried in St. Vincents Cemetery, Latrobe Pa.

Whiskey Wars!

      I don't know if I've mentioned it before but early in our married life my spouse and I started a decades long ritual of reading to each other at bedtime. Lately we've been focusing on two old books about Pennsylvania we found going through 'stuff' at my mother's house.
     Just last night we read about the cantankerous Pennsylvanians demonstrating against the act of 1791 tax levy on distilled liquors. The Whiskey Insurrection was quite large here in old PA. Pennsylvania had recently ended long years of boundary wars with multiple countries and states. They had their "dander up".
     "A horse could carry only four bushels of grain across the Alleghenies from western Pennsylvania to eastern Pennsylvania, but could carry the product of 24 bushels in the form of whiskey. And on the return trip bring salt, sugar and iron. Distilling whiskey was a major industry. Western Pennsylvania contained more stills than any other area in the United States and therefore heavily taxed."
     This was the new government's first real test. The book tells "For three years Washington temporized with four Pennsylvania counties, because he feared that a call upon the militia to uphold the government would be repudiated, and that the Constitution, thus shown to have no hold upon the people's affections, would perish in mockery and derision.". George Washington and his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton didn't intend to ignore any defiance against laws enacted by this new congress.
     A group of people calling themselves "Tom the Tinkers" went through the countryside intimidating people who paid the tax. They would smash or "mend" stills and leave intimidating notes posted on trees and posts. It was called "mending the still".
One law abiding citizen had  the Pittsburgh Gazette print the long, wordy diatribe the 'Tinkers' left him. Large numbers of people against the tax boycotted services of even clergy and physicians who were for obeying the law. Some houses were burned and militia sent to protect some of the officials.  I,also, read somewhere that a good 25% of the distilleries in the US were actually in western Pennsylvania..
     On August 1, 1794 a mass meeting of 7,000 armed insurgents was held at Braddock's Field. The president "himself led an army of 15,000 men as far as Bedford ...to suppress the disorder. Secretary Hamilton accompanied the troops to the scene of the disorder." People refusing to comply were arrested. Conferences between state and federal representatives restored law and order.  Men from both sides went on to be appointed and/or elected to political positions.
     There are 26 historical markers throughout southwestern Pennsylvania memorializing this Insurrection and the meetings and confrontations that occurred here. See this site for more information.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_historical_marker_program/2539/search_for_historical_markers/300886
quotes from: C.M. Bomberger; Twelfth Colony Plus. Jeannette Publishing Company, copyright 1934.

Matrilineal line

In response to Randy at Genea-musing my mother's line:
(My mitocondrial DNA line:)
1) Neva Waltonbaugh 1929
2) Neva Davis (Davies) 1909
3) Neva Cochenour 1880
4) Catherine Frew 1862
5) Eliza Duff (McElduff) 1831-34? *(see our RIP blog on finally finding her headstone!)
6) Margaret Myers ?
And here this line ends.
It is a different perspective doing it this way.
I have not had a DNA test done but plan to do so.
(Hint: we found many of my female ancestors looking for and finding the males.)
On my mom's side many lines go back to the 1600's 'domestically'!
We're working on finding and verifying.
Right now we're concentrating on verifying back to Revolutionary War Patriots.
Thanks for the challenge though, it opened up my genealogy in a different light and , also, renewed my desire to find Margaret Myers and verify her and find her family history.
JLK/NK56

Surname Saturday: Finding Frews

As I have gotten older I tend to procrastinate but when I get started I can go 'full tilt boogie'.
We have only been able to look for family grave monuments on weekends. I took the phone number of a much visited cemetery with me one day this week and made a personal call on the road. We have been unable to find one of my direct ancestors graves. I was somewhat certain she was in  this cemetery but after finding so many of my family here but not her or her married name we began to question if my memory of my trips here with my grandmother as a child had been correct.
In speaking with a lovely lady at the office I was verified that she was in the cemetery and given her exact lot number. Luckily  we were able to visit within a day or two. I went to the office, spoke to the same lovey lady and obtained a map with a star at her general spot and the names on the stones surrounding her. We drove to the section as I eagerly anticipated this discovery. When we arrived there wasn't a second row of stones immediately behind the first but a long row of beautiful rhododendrons in all their adult and healthy splendor. We pulled the car over to an appropriate spot and started to walk to the first row.
Yes, we found the name of the stone directly in front of my Eliza. But no second row! We walked over toward the beautiful bushes. Gently pulling apart the branches we saw several stones inside the surrounding bushes and surrounded by several branches were large jewel weeds one could not see from the road, they blended in so well.  I had to walk around to the less dense side of the bush to sneak into the group of bushes. It felt like being a kid again playing making a cabin under a bush just under a group of trees. My husband being much taller was able to bend around some branches and see into the greenery. He hollered, " it's Eliza."
We gently removed all the dead branches and moved the branches we were able to without any kind of tools or hurting the plants. We, also, removed the 'passed their prime' and dying jewel weeds so you could see the one facet of the monolith without trimming the rhododendrons.

Her stone was larger than I thought it would be. A nice monolith. She had died before her husband and this was a lovely choice. He was a tailor and must have done well to purchase such a lovely stone.

Her inscription was not on the face or the back of the stone but on the side  facet. It indicated she was the wife of J.G. (I have his info as James G.) but his inscription is missing. The office had his name as being in this lot grave # 2.

No wonder we hadn't found her after so many attempts to find her! 

She was near the original entrance in one of the first areas of the cemetery. When I began to plot all my many relatives on the map I found Eliza was in the section next to her daughter and son-in-law who are with his parents. More relatives. As I continued I found for over 120 years my family has been burying members here  all in sections in a line from front to back of the cemetery. You could walk a straight line through these sections of this huge cemetery without getting worn out.

First of all it's so lovely to be able to get info from the office.
Second I told the lovely lady in the office this is a lovely very well taken care of cemetery. A very pleasant one to visit.
And last but not least I want to mention how great this staff member was at helping me.
This wonderful, beautifully maintained for over 160 years, cemetery is the West Newton cemetery and my experiences here have made me want to sale my plots and stones and buy ones in this one.